Battle of Britain GB 2008 - 21 June to 31 Oct 08

Hi guys, I havent forgot about ya.

Alot of great talent here and awesome builds.

I should be recieving Rodens Gladiator any day now. Kinda sucks that most of ya'll are done or nearing completion already on your builds. Its too bad I'm the only one doing the Glad, it would have been nice to have some company on this build because I've never done a british aircraft before.

Oh well. I'm sure you'll be here if I need ya.

I'll send some pics when I get started on it and get some progress made.

Mike

Well I have some depressing news I clear coated the Hurricane with some thinned Model Masters Dullcoat and guess what. Not only did it dry cloudy but it attacked the decals and they wrinkled up like potato chips! So now I have a Hurricane that has a extremly faded out paint job and ruined decals. I really do not feel like striping the whole thing down right now and then trying to find the correct decals for a fabric winged Mki. So if it is ok with everyone I am going to grab a Hasegawa Hurricane Mkii out of the stash and start over agian. Mabye later i will strip down the Classic Airframes kit I'm just not in the mood right now. I'm sure you can all understand. Oh and yes I threw out all of the Model Masters Acrylic dullcoat I had, both bottles! I can not bring myself to post pics of the disater it is just to depressing. it would be like posting crime scene photos! hope to start on the Hasegawa kit tonight.

                                                                             Soulcrusher

 UUUUUGGGGH! Man that has to hurt after all that work! You say that was acrylic dull coat as opposed to the laquer based stuff? Very strange that killed them. I mean future is acrylic and I have never heard of that bizarre but stinks any way you slice it.

 I mean I feel almost like it happened to me as I have been taunting you all the way but now have no words.

What a nightmare, SC. My heart goes out to ya fella. I had a similar problem trying to spray Tamiya clear as my decal base on top of Xtracrylics. Went real crappy. Luckilly i wiped it off quick before any permanant damage. That was on the 109 for this GB.

...Guy

SC- Oh, man!  I am so sorry to hear that.  In the last couple of years, I have had some pretty serious boo-boos on my part that ruined the finish.  I can really feel your pain.  Hang in there buddy, the next one will be a beauty.

PM inbound.

SC, sorry to hear about the Hurricane, hopefully you will be able to resurect it at some point.

Mike, I'm going with a KG55 machine based outside Paris in September 1940.

I'm doing the machine with the black undersides from the Aims sheet, see the link below:

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=AIMS7210

Frank, Aaron, Dave, we should form the Guild of Master Maskers! maybe Tamiya would sponsor us?

Darren, definitely front end of the Beagle. If it had been the back end, this build would have wheels up!

Guy, from the Airdoc book I picked up the other week, it seems many of the He111Ps had their lower surfaces painted black fairly early in the battle in order to carry out night raids.

So I'm going for a well worn field applied black wash over my machine.

Progress Update

Removed all the masking tonight, et voila!

To cut the contrast between the 70 & 71 I applied a dilute coat of 71 over both colours, the flat coat will further kill the contrast, as pics of these beasts show fairly low levels of contrast.

The camo on the wings carries over onto the underside on this bird, however most of it will be covered by the rough coat of black.

Just needs Future and decals now.

Karl

Thanks everyone I fell better now that I have posted and gotten my frustration out! I am definetly going to dive into the Hasegawa kit tonight. I am at the mercy of the growing number of Luftwaffe bombers right now! Karl that is a nice He 111 there. I also believe in masking completly just like you did. It is incredible where overspray can end up sometimes! Well I hope the Luftwaffe is taking a nap right now so I can complete a Hurricane and me and Frank can defend the costal waters! Oh note to self buy a fresh jar of dullcoat! I have to wonder if moisture is the culprit for the cloudyness of the  dullcoat. I have seen it with old laquer based dullcoat but never Acrylics. Well of to the workbench I have alot of catching up to do!

                                                                                            Soulcrusher

Napping!!!. We Zee Glorious Pilots of ze Fazerland, never sleep.

Karl she is looking sooo peachy. Im hot on your heels though fella. Im a bit like a duck with my posting. Nothing appears to be happening, but under the surface, im going like crazy LOL. Love the colour scheme on yours though. I considered doing the night version with the black u/side but will go for the RLM 65 instead. I should be able to get it looking heavily weathered with the lighter shade.

Ive read from everyone possible and in reviews that the Hasa 111 is a bear on the u/side wing gap. Well i must either be an exceptional modeller or ive got a lucky kit (Opting for the Last) LOL because my wings went on with hardly any gap or trouble at all. All i used with a substantial spreader in the bomb bay. Heres a couple of pics to prove im not full of it. Also this model has gone together with virtually no filler at all. I only needed a smear on the sprue attachment points.

The residue you can see at the wing cord comes off easily with a piece of scotch bright or green scourer. You know the stuff im on about hopefully.

Hopefully i can still get the glass on right. I meant to get it on before the wings but forgot. Doh....More soon. Quack Quack.

...Guy

Karl, Guy, those He 111's are looking so nice.   Makes me want to do another one.  ...and why didn't I think of using a spreader when I did mine. Doh!

SC, I've heard from several people on these forums who have had the same issues in the last year or so with the cloudy model master acrylic flat coat.  I too have gotten a bottle with the same issue.  I have not heard of it causing decals to wrinkle up though.  There is much speculation on what the cause is but I have not heard of any official response from the supplier.

Guy I am pretty sure you yourself do not sleep. There is no other way you could turn out so many awesome models so quickly. I was hopeing that the rest of the boys in the Fatherland might take a weeks vacation and give me a chance to catch up though.

Dave hope your back is feeling better. I had not heard of anyone else having clouding issues with the Model Master Acrylics. It makes me feel a little bit better knowing I was not something I did wrong. As for the decals that is real weird. It only attacked the decals with large areas of clear film. You know the part of the decal that always want to silver. it did not attack the solid color roundels? I have changed my mind and I am going to build the Hasegawa Mk i trop kit I have in the stash. It has all the parts to build a non tropical Mki. I just order all three of Aeromaster sheets for early Hurricane Aces so I will have the correct BoB decals also. As for the CA kit, she will rise agian another day!

                                                                             Soulcrusher

Guy I know exactly what you mean with the duck analogy, I think of the work I've put into the Bf 110 so far and then look at the meagre completed components I have to show for it, I think there must be more than that surely.

Mike sorry to hear about the CA Hurricane and I'm glad you didn't boomerang it into a wall as I have been known to do from time to time.  It's a pity you've ordered those decals as I have the early Hurricane aces sheet no three and you would be welcome to either of aircraft 1 or 2 if you want them.

Cheers

Darren-Glad to hear that the Mrs. is back home and doing well.  Always a scary time.

A lot of GREAT work being displayed here lads.  You guys are setting high standards.

I've been bogged down in life lately-nothing bad, just busy.  Just not in a modeling place at the moment.  The cockpit is done on the 109 & I'll post pics later.  However, I do have one question for the resident experts-with the front flaps extended on the 109E, what color was the wing under the flap that is now exposed.

As always, thanks in advance.

On an 'E' it would be RLM 02. Im no expert though LOL

...Guy

Luftwoller wrote:

On an 'E' it would be RLM 02. Im no expert though LOL ...Guy

Ha ! Bet That..... Some how I think you guys got it covered.

I appreciate the offer there Darren. Funny though I also want to do Squadron Leader R.S. Tuck's plane  He has always been one of my favorite RAF pilots. I bought the other decals because i also have two more Hurricanes in the stash and I also will need replacement decals for the Classic Airframes kit when I get around to striping off the messed up paint. I figured with all three sets i should have all posibilities covered! Tally Ho!

                                                                             Soulcrusher

Guy, you're making a hell of a lot of progress on that Heinkel.

I installed the bomb bay doors on mine before attaching the wings, otherwise I think would have tried a spreader as well. 

Still, considering the gung ho manner in which I started this build two years ago, it's a wonder the wings are on the right way.

Time for some Future I think, and maybe I'll spray little on the Hun bird too!

Karl

Luftwoller wrote:

On an 'E' it would be RLM 02. Im no expert though LOL ...Guy

Thanks Guy

Hey guys...my stuka build is going slow...had to do some minor surgery on the wings last night to look more realistic...had to cut off the triangle pieces that are supposed to be the aileron supports..need to replace with wire or something...added a gif to my signature to keep me motivated.

more to come

Mark

Mark- Cool GIF!  I like it.   Modifying those aileron parts on your Stuka will really make a difference, look forward to seeing how you go about it.

I am on vacation for the next 10 days, so I plan to get lots of work done!  Tonight, I am going to work on both the Spit and the '109.  Sounds like the RAF needs more fighters to stem the onslaught of the incoming Luftwaffe!

Right!  Tally ho...

bobbaily wrote:

I do have one question for the resident experts-with the front flaps extended on the 109E, what color was the wing under the flap that is now exposed.

Expert I think not but it's a definate RLM 02 for cockpit interior, wheel wells and general "interior" bits for the time frame we are modeling.

Guy I forgot to mention earlier but your 111 is looking fantastic, keep those updates coming

Your wish is my command.

Ive masked the glasswork and attached it all. The very nose piece ive masked and kept off the plane. Also the front and rear gunner stations on the gondola have only been tacked in position. This is to make painting and fitting of the guns a little easier. Coat of primer (Halfords Grey plastic) excellent stuff. Then it was on with the pre-shade and God did it take forever. My little crappt compressor was red hot when i finished LOL I also included a pic of my airbrush. Its from this company http://www.everythingairbrush.co.uk/ Its a copy of something flash and only cost £40. I love it. Anyhoos heres where im at now.

...Guy

Guy, looking good there.

I post shaded the panels on mine, and bloody hell, are there a lot of panels on a 111!

Speaking of which, most of the decals are now on.

I won't put the fuselage Balkan Kreuz and codes on until after I've done the rough black.

I always buy my airbrushes from the US and get them delivered to my mates when they are out there. 

They are so much cheaper stateside, even if you pay overseas postage and customs charges they still work substantially cheaper than buying in jolly Blighty!

Karl

Guy & Karl... Great work guys.

Regards,  Rick

Guy and Karl -- some very nice 111s going together here! I just missed a Hasa on eBay a few weeks ago... Guy, I envy your AB, mine (twice the price of yours, 16 years ago) is producing a splattery mess even on the smallest tip. I have to give it a far better clean than ever before or truck it into the shop again...

I've ordered a 1:48 Tamiya E-3, it should be in the mail in a couple of weeks. It'll be an OOB, and I'll probably pump all you guys for accurate RLMs for the period as the instructions will probably be Tamiya paint numbers on mixing ratios.

I'd have liked to tackle an RAF subject too... We'll see how clear the bench is in six weeks!

Cheers,

TB379

Mike, the Hasa 111 is a great kit you won't be disapointed.

If it has one flaw though, it has to be the panel lines. I was looking through the Airdoc book I picked up on the He111P series machines, and it soon becomes clear the panel lines on real aircraft were nowhere near as prominent as the ones on the kit. 

Still, not as bad as Hasa's new battleship kit where they managed to mould all the grid lines from the CAD process onto the hull. Major cock up!

I'm off to apply some Future over the decalsm before applying that mucky black to the undersides.

Karl

Hi Karl,

Panel lines a bit heavy? Hmmm, that's a hazard of 1:72 in a way, though the heavier the line the easier it is to accent. And the Hasa won't be as heavy in the lines department as the old Matchbox He 111... I have one, and though I've considered trading it off there's something irresistable about the old Matchbox kits that takes me back to my youth. I considered dragging it out and building it for this GB, just for the hell of it, but I've no idea what mark it is. It may not be appropriate.

I recently scored an extra Matchbox 1:32 Spitfire 24 on eBay -- destined for a natural metal paintjob and Egyptian markings. I won a minor prize with that kit in RAF cammo when I was 19, so I have a soft spot for it.

109 coming up in a fortnight or so!

Cheers,

TB379